Rich focus on wealth post-Covid: Report

Covid-19 prompted 97% affluent in India to improve their wealth

Covid-19 has prompted the affluent in India to take a hard look at their health as well as wealth, according to the Wealth Expectancy Report 2021 by Standard Chartered.

Four in 10 Indians (42 per cent) have decided “to improve their health” followed by 39 per cent setting a goal to be financially prepared for major life changes such as having a child or moving abroad and 37 per cent aiming to set aside more money for their children’s future.

The report also found that 97 per cent affluent people in India had taken at least one action to improve their wealth in the last 18 months. But the pandemic has also caused nearly half of affluent consumers in India to lose confidence in their financial management, making them increasingly averse to risk, found the report, which included nearly 16,000 people across 12 markets including Hong Kong, China, Singapore and the UK.

The top four actions taken by affluent people in all countries except the UK were: tracking their investments more actively, increasing the proportion of money already invested, researching new financial products and setting new targets for performance of any investment.

Nearly two-fifths of them increased the proportion of their money already invested, while the UK had the lowest number of affluent consumers setting new life goals.

In India, nearly half of the affluent (48 per cent) said they felt less confident in their finances after the pandemic.

In terms of planning for retirement, despite over half of consumers expecting to retire before 65, a third have not started saving
yet.

The data showed a third (33 per cent) do not currently save/invest for retirement, yet investment income for 43 per cent and cash savings for 39 per cent are the most common expected sources of income for retirement.

Despite this, slightly more than half (54 per cent) plan to retire before the age of 65, with one-fifth (20 per cent) of those who have set new goals in the last 18 months saying they plan early
retirement.

Check out latest videos from DH: